There Was Love
by that'sthe411
Summary: She had been rendered unreacheable by Gaea's torture. Could the son of the sea god find a way to bridge the gap?


**Okay, before you start harassing me for writing a PercyxPiper, let me explain. I am a hardcore Percabeth shipper, but I read this expression somewhere on Fanfiction and it perfectly describes how I feel. Percy and Annabeth are just so dang shippable! (If whoever said that is reading this, sorry for not giving you props, but I can't remember your penname and anyway, you know who you are.) Plus, I don't think there are enough PercyxPiper fics on here, even if I don't ship them. Please, just give it a chance.**

There Was Love

The seven demigods stare desolately at the small gray figure wreathed in gold. Not the seven heroes, not the seven of the prophecy, not the seven who defeated Gaea. They are six now. One is gone. She's not dead, but she may as well be. And it is she who they stare at on the white infirmary bed, as they wait with the Italian son of death.

The blonde-haired girl sighs. She cannot help feeling responsible for the girl's sickness. After all, it was she who fell, her and her boyfriend into Tartarus, the deepest recesses of the Underworld, the blackest pit of Hell. They made it out, bruised, battered, but alive, but by then it was too late. The girl had driven herself sick with worry, and unable to take it any longer, had left the dragon-headed boat to find them. It was due to her that they even won the battle, for on her way, she had taken out four of the massive giants with the help of her mother, leaving the other six a much easier job to do. But alas, it ended in strife, for in the end, the Earth-mother had captured her and dragged her to her prison in Tartarus. There she tortured her, there she drove her mad, and there the girl finally broke.

When Gaea was finally defeated, the girl's body was expelled from her earthen cage; small, thin, and barely breathing. They had run to her, rescued her, and draped her in the Golden Fleece in a futile effort to restore her sanity. They brought her to the camp infirmary, but in the week that they had been home, nothing about the girl had changed. One of the remaining six, most frequently the girl's blond-haired boyfriend, was always present at her bedside, hoping to see even the slightest sign of the girl's improvement. But nothing changed. And still they waited. And watched.

Finally, the blonde girl sighed. "We should get going. Chiron ordered a meeting of the remaining six heroes in the morning, and we should really stay rested. Whose turn is it to stay with her?"

The blonde boyfriend jumped forward before any of them had a chance to react. "I'll stay with her, Annabeth!" he blurted. The blonde, Annabeth, sighed as a small smile tugged at her mouth.

"Okay, Jason," she said. The other six turned to leave the room, but the girl on the bed began to shake violently. Jason stepped forward, caressing her cheek and whispering soothing things, but that only made the girl more agitated. The others rushed back to the bedside.

"What did you do?" demanded the son of the sea god. Jason shrank back against the wall, looking heartbroken.

"Nothing! I just-I didn't..." It didn't matter. The dark haired one had already turned back to the thrashing girl on the bed.

The blonde girl was searching frantically about for some nectar, and the sick girl's best friend, the mechanic, seemed to be crafting what looked like a tiny thermometer. The mechanic's girl looked so agitated that millions of emeralds had sprouted from the floor, and the burly shapeshifter just looked horrified. All were moving around quickly except for the dark-haired, green-eyed one. He knelt next to the bedside and touched the girl's forehead. It did not happen all at once, but gradually her shaking ceased until she was just shivering slightly. Everyone stopped and stared.

"Percy," came the voice of the blonde girlfriend, "what did you do?"

Percy ignored her, as if all of a sudden, he and this girl were the only ones on earth. Somehow the girl's small hand found its way into his. The girl still did not open her eyes, but she leaned toward him as if that was the only thing keeping her alive. Slowly, slowly, Percy reached up and pushed the sweaty tangles of hair from her forehead, and slowly the girl relaxed.

"Um, y'know, maybe you should stay with her tonight, Percy. I'll just, um, be in my cabin," said Annabeth awkwardly. Percy nodded and continued stroking the girl's forehead. Slowly and quietly, the other six filed out of the infirmary and wandered towards their cabins, until the only ones left were the two blondes outside of the door. The boy was about to turn towards cabin number one when he heard a small sniffle from behind.

"Annabeth?" he said hesitantly, turning to look at her. "What's wrong?"

She didn't even bother to slap the tears away like she normally did. "It's just," she said softly, "I've lost him."

Jason wanted to be confused, but sadly he knew just what she meant. "Who?" he asked anyway.

"Percy!" she burst out. Annabeth may be blonde, but she wasn't stupid, and she knew exactly where this was headed. "He may still be mine for a little bit, but once she wakes up, he'll know exactly what he wants, and it won't be me!" as she burst into furious tears.

Jason stepped forward to comfort her, wrapping his arms around her. "Just look at them in there!" she sobbed into his shirt.

Jason did, and he knew he couldn't keep denying it. There, inside the infirmary window, was Percy Jackson. He had climbed onto the bed to hold the sick girl, with the tenderest look on his face that Jason had ever seen. There was Jason's girlfriend, Piper McLean. She still had not awoken, but she clung to Percy's arm as if it was the guiding hand meant to lead her out of the shadowy world she now resided in. And there, more clearly than Jason had ever seen, was love. As much as he would have liked to deny it as he held the sobbing blonde in his arms, it was there. There were the two heroes. And there was love.

**So, what do you think? Please review, and while I would love some positive reviews, I'll understand if you don't like it. You should've seen my brother's face when I told him I was writing a PercyxPiper. He's a huge Percabeth shipper, and all I can say is, I'm glad looks can't kill. He refused to even read the thing. Oh well. Review please!**

**P.S. Am I the only one who finds it infuriating that I can't come up with a ship name for PercyxPiper because of the first letters of their names? GRRR! If you have an idea for a ship name, put it in your review please! ****_Ciao!_**


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